MMA News

Tom Taylor - July 17, 2018

UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is a sought-after man. After being called out by Stipe Miocic, Yoel Romero, Anthony Smith, and more, he’s now been called out by surging light heavyweight talent Ilir Latifi. The Swedish behemoth made his callout of Cormier on Instagram over the weekend. He’s hoping to battle the champ when the UFC returns to New York City’s Madison Square Garden this November.

Tom Taylor - July 17, 2018

Both UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champ Conor McGregor were in attendance at Sunday’s FIFA World Cup Final in Russia. Given that the pair have repeatedly been linked to a blockbuster title fight, and that there is a long history of heated confrontations between them, many fans were hoping they’d cross paths. After all, what better way to expedite fight negotiations than a little skirmish? In the end, however, Nurmagomedov and McGregor did not meet in Russia. And according to Khabib Nurmagomedov, that was probably for the best. Though the Russian star expected to see the Irishman in the stadium, he doesn’t feel a meeting under those circumstances would be fruitful.

Drake Riggs - July 17, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s52H5IHxZUY “There’s a reason [that] after I launched that tweet, that Instagram comment… There’s a reason why I had…I mean tons of fighters reach out to me. Tons of UFC employees reach out to me. Tons of employees from Reebok reach out to me, former fighters, media members. Why do you think that is? Cause everyone’s thinkin’ this: [Dana White] motivates by fear. That’s not a way to run a business. That’s not the way to do things, it’s 2018. You just can’t do that.

Drake Riggs - July 16, 2018

The UFC’s middleweight king Robert Whittaker can’t catch a break when it comes to injuries. Now he expects he won’t fight until next year at the earliest. Despite breaking his hand once again in his second encounter with Yoel Romero at UFC 225, Whittaker was has been announced as one of the coaches for season 28 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Drake Riggs - July 16, 2018

UFC 226 was full of great fights. With the exception of one of the most anticipated ones not panning out at all how we expected. That fight being, of course, the heavyweight clash between usual knockout artists, Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou.

Drake Riggs - July 16, 2018

There were several big winners on July 7th at UFC 226. Two of which were lightweight fighters who could potentially cross paths one day. In fact, that’s exactly what Dan Hooker’s coach Eugene Bareman hopes happens next for his fighter.

Tom Taylor - July 16, 2018

Kelvin Gastelum has won the middleweight title shot sweepstakes, sprinting ahead of his fellow middleweight contenders in the race to the next crack at divisional champion Robert Whittaker. Gastelum will battle Whittaker sometime later this year, but first, the pair will serve as the coaches of the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. For Gastelum, Whittaker represents and undeniably tough test. That said, Gastelum wonders if Whittaker might be a different fighter after his last two bouts, a pair of absolute wars with the fearsome Yoel Romero.

Tom Taylor - July 16, 2018

Earlier this month, in the main event of UFC 226, Stipe Miocic’s reign as the UFC’s most dominant heavyweight champion came to a skittering halt, as he was put down by a thunderous first-round punch from Daniel Cormier. In the ensuing fallout of this title loss, Miocic planned to ask for an immediate rematch with Cormier. This, after all is, is an opportunity that many dominant UFC champions have been awarded in the past. See Anderson Silva, Ronda Rousey, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, etc.

Tom Taylor - July 16, 2018

UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington’s days as the UFC’s biggest heel could soon be over. Ahead of his title-unifying showdown with undisputed champ Tyron Woodley, which is not yet scheduled, Covington claims that fans are so disappointed with Woodley’s reign as champ, that he might turn face just to give them somebody to root for. “Woodley’s in his little safe space,” Covington said of Woodley on the latest episode of BJPENN.COM Radio. “Hollywood’s made him softer, so we’re gonna see each other across the Octagon, and I’m gonna retire him for good. There’s no more talk of Tyron Woodley. [To] all the fans, I’m supposed to be the bad guy. I’m selling this like I’m the bad guy, but I can’t even be the bad guy, ’cause anytime Tyron Woodley opens his mouth, he immediately becomes the bad guy. He’s trying to act like a good guy, but he’s talking about things that only bad guys talk about. So, Woodley… he needs to shut his mouth and just let me sell the fight. No one cares about him, he’s not a draw. That’s why he had to piggy back off Conor [McGregor], and he had to piggy back off Jon Jones to get pay per view points and make money.

Tom Taylor - July 16, 2018

Alexander Gustafsson, who is currently the top contender in the UFC light heavyweight division, wasn’t particularly pleased when UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier moved up to heavyweight to battle divisional champion Stipe Miocic. Despite his frustrations with Cormier leaving the division, however, Gustafsson admits he was very impressed with the way Cormier ultimately defeated Miocic. “He did great. I’m impressed,” Gustafsson told Luke Thomas on the latest edition of The MMA Hour (transcribed by Peter Carroll for MMA Fighting). “I was impressed by the way he finished Stipe and how he won the fight. I’m very impressed by the guy, he did great.”

Tom Taylor - July 16, 2018

UFC Boise produced some pretty memorable moments, from Niko Price’s insane knockout of Randy Brown, to Cat Zingano’s emotional defeat of Marion Reneau, to Chad Mendes’ successful return to action. Unfortunately, the card also produced a few unsavory moments in the form of some questionable judging. There were three decisions on the UFC Boise card in particular that many fans seemed to disagree with. The first saw Said Nurmagomedov defeat Justin Scoggins via split decision. The second saw Alejandro Pérez defeat Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision. The third saw Rick Glenn defeat Dennis Bermudez via split decision. While there are certainly plenty of fans who feel the judges scored these fights properly, others feel the judges were way off.

Tom Taylor - July 16, 2018

UFC 225, which went down on June 9 in Chicago, was an extremely stacked card. It was headlined by a middleweight showdown between champ Robert Whittaker and overweight challenger Yoel Romero, co-headlined by an interim welterweight title fight between Colby Covington and Rafael dos Anjos, and sweetened by a host of other fantastic matchups. Surprisingly, however, the card is only reported to have sold something in the area of 250,000 pay-per-views — not a disastrous number, but certainly not a home run either.

Thomas Taylor - July 15, 2018

Earlier this weekend, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones expressed interest in participating in a grappling match while he waits for his USADA situation to get sorted out. I’d be so down @FloGrappling who’s trying to get tapped out? https://t.co/vJB4OLz1NU

Jordan Colbert - July 15, 2018

The Ultimate Fighter 27: Undefeated contestant Luis Pena entered the ranks of the stacked UFC lightweight division with a bang at the TUF 27 Finale with a first-round submission win over Richie Smullen. Only five fights into his professional career, Pena is already beginning to make waves and develop a cult following largely due to his unique persona to go along with an electric fight style. The man known as  ‘Violent Bob Ross’ hopped on a call with BJPenn.com for an exclusive interview as he looks ahead to his future inside of the UFC.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2018

Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor is currently in Russia, where he attended the World Cup final. He’s also using this Russian visit to build a “Russian compound,” whatever that means… As it turns out, McGregor was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Shortly after the game wrapped up, McGregor took to Instagram to share a few photos of his meeting with Putin, and offer his thanks to the Russian President.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2018

Earlier this week, former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz took to social media where he criticized the UFC for awarding Brock Lesnar a heavyweight title fight with new champion Daniel Cormier, and bashed Cormier for his fighting style.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2018

Jon Jones, who is currently awaiting his sentencing from USADA and his hoping to return to the UFC’s Octagon in the near future, is interested in staying busy with a grappling match. Jones expressed his interest in a grappling match on Twitter over the weekend.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2018

https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/1018334771452182528 Conor McGregor, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Saturday, is currently in Moscow.